Nordstrom to expand assortment of diverse brands with The Folklore Group

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Feb 28, 2023

Nordstrom announced on Tuesday a new partnership with The Folklore Group to expand its assortment of diverse brands from global markets. 

As part of the partnership, through The Folklore Connect platform, a first-of-its-kind e-commerce tool, Nordstrom will be better able to identify and engage with wholesale fashion and lifestyle brands founded by Black, Latinx, Asian, and other people of color, as well as brands located in emerging markets.

The move is part of Nordstrom’s ambitious goals to improve and diversify its product assortment. The retailer has previously committed to delivering $500 million in retail sales from brands owned, operated or designed by Black and Latinx individuals by 2025. 

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Most recently, in 2022, Nordstrom reached $247 million in retail sales through its current offering of more than 250 brands in Black- and Latinx-owned and founded categories. In 2021, Nordstrom also signed the Fifteen Percent Pledge, in line with its commitment to grow purchases from businesses owned or founded by Black individuals tenfold by the end of 2030.

“Nordstrom has a long history of curating new and emerging brands to offer an ever evolving and relevant product assortment for our customers. They expect that we deliver a sense of inspiration and discovery with high-quality products from diverse brands,” said Brian Roberts, vice president of brand programs at Nordstrom. 

“We are grateful for our partnership with The Folklore Group, which provides us with additional resources to discover and connect with new-to-Nordstrom brands in support of our ambitions to address marketplace equity.” 

The Folklore Group launched in 2018 and in 2022 it introduced The Folklore Connect. Currently, the expanding Connect platform has more than 100 brands including Ashya, Nalebe and Vavvoune.

Nordstrom is one of the largest retailers to partner to-date and will also invite its brand partners to join The Folklore Connect for increased visibility with others in the industry.

“As a lifelong Nordstrom customer, I have long admired and shopped their incredible curation of products, and I'm excited to be teaming up with the legacy retailer in their ongoing commitment to supplier diversity," said Amira Rasool, founder and CEO of The Folklore Group. 

"The Folklore Connect partnership with Nordstrom will now allow their incredible buying team to connect with even more diverse brands from around the world and give customers an experience to shop fantastic brands they could not easily access online or in stores."